


she's got me like nobody

by kylorithic



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, star - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Antagonism, Cunnilingus, F/M, Face-Sitting, Fingerfucking, Halloween, Making Out, Rivals to Lovers, Strip Poker, Unprotected Sex, Vaginal Sex, and basically they just snark at each other ALL THE TIME, they're both RAs on the same floor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:20:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylorithic/pseuds/kylorithic
Summary: “This is Rey Johnson,” Amilyn Holdo, the RA Coordinator, suddenly says. “She’s going to be the other RA on your floor.”Ben, who was busy digging through a box on his bed to try to find the sheets hesworehe had packed, looks up to see Holdo standing in his doorway and is caught off guard by the girl next to her.She’s short, brown hair up in a high bun on her head, wide smile, and she’s wearing a well-worn maroon sweatshirt with the university’s logo plastered on the front. Her smile widens even further as they make eye contact and she waves.He’s fucked, so terribly fucked.or ben solo and rey johnson are assigned as RAs on the same floor and instantly despise each other.(that last part might be up for debate)
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 28
Kudos: 353





	she's got me like nobody

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trasharama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trasharama/gifts).



> so, this was just supposed to be a silly little fic that stemmed from me asking [britt](https://twitter.com/reylobaelo) for a light-hearted prompt to distract myself from the world a few weeks ago. it basically snowballed into this monstrosity that you see before you. shout out to britt for dealing with my constant dm's about how i hated everything i was writing and her constant reassurance that it wasn't that bad. this fic is dedicated to her and i hope it lives up to the expecations. thanks for being patient!
> 
> (and yes, i did steal this title from a lady gaga lyric and no, i will not apologize for it.)

The week before his classes are set to start, Ben moves into his dorm.

Normally, he’d have to deal with the hassle of trying to get to his dorm room before whatever random person the school assigned to be his roommate showed up, because nothing beats having first pick of the beds, but this year is different. This year, Ben has been assigned as RA to one of the mixed gender dorms and he gets a whole room _all to himself._ It’s the closest a senior at Chandrila University can get to heaven and Ben is extremely grateful that he was given the opportunity.

He managed to shake off his mother’s insistence on accompanying him, promising her to take her to lunch in the upcoming week to make it up to her. He still was a little worried that she might pop up at any moment and “surprise” him, so when there was a knock on the door, he’s not surprised. 

“This is Rey Johnson,” Amilyn Holdo, the RA Coordinator, suddenly says. “She’s going to be the other RA on your floor.”

Ben, who was busy digging through a box on his bed to try to find the sheets he _swore_ he had packed, looks up to see Holdo standing in his doorway and is caught off guard by the girl next to her.

She’s short, brown hair up in a high bun on her head, wide smile, and she’s wearing a well-worn maroon sweatshirt with the university’s logo plastered on the front. Her smile widens even further as they make eye contact and she waves.

He’s fucked, so terribly fucked, because she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen in his _life_ and Ben is just - he’s expected to live across the hall from her for a whole semester? Maybe the whole _year?_ Either some higher power decided to cut him a break or this is some weird fever dream he’s having. Maybe he fell bringing his box of books up the stairs. Is it too late to change his mind about this whole RA thing, he wonders? Maybe he could work out some sort of trade and be transferred to another floor -

“Um,” he mumbles, wiping his hand on his jeans and extending it for a shake because it's the polite thing to do. “Nice to meet you.”

Her grin is like the goddamn _sun_ and Ben feels his chest tighten. “You too,” she replies and _oh no,_ she’s British, he’s doubly fucked, mind as well throw him out his window now because he’s going, _gone_. “I’m looking forward to working with you this semester.”

Ben tries to smile, but it must not come out the way he intends, because he can see her smile falter just a little, sees the brightness in her eyes dimming as she peers at him curiously. Ben has always been terrible at introductions unless he’s drunk, so this really shouldn’t surprise him. He pulls his hand out of her grasp and shoves it in his pocket.

After a moment of awkward silence, Holdo claps her hands together and grins at both of them. “Well, I think you two are going to make a wonderful team!” 

Rey’s not looking at him now, instead she’s staring at his shoes with a furrow between her brow. Ben can only find it in himself to nod.

“I’m going to show Rey her room,” Holdo continues, after another moment of awkwardness, where she must realize that the conversation between him and Rey isn’t going to go any further.. “Thanks for letting us stop by, Ben!”

Ben wants to argue that he didn’t really have a say in the matter, since the RA handbook requires him to have his door open on move-in day in case some poor freshman has a question, but the both of them are already walking back into the hallway and into the room across the way. He sighs, rubbing his hand over his face and wishing he could go back to ten minutes ago.

——

Rey seems to avoid him the first week. 

He tries not to take it personally, he does, but he knows that it probably _is_ personal since he’s pretty sure that if he hadn’t acted like an awkward asshole, him and Rey would probably be okay. 

Instead, he hardly ever sees her unless they bump into each other in the hallway and even _that_ is rare. Ben is nearly positive that she’s keeping tabs on when he leaves his room so she won’t have to worry about having to make conversation with him, which they don’t even do anyways when they _do_ see each other.

It would be so easy to just go across the hallway and say, _hey, I think we got off on the wrong foot, let’s start over_ but every time he thinks about doing it, he just...doesn’t.

It’s not like he has a ton of time to focus it on it anyways. The week before classes start is always filled with trying to resituate himself to living in the dorms. It helps having a room all to himself this semester, but as an RA, he has had way more visitors in his room then he’s had in his entire college career. He’s not surprised, since he was assigned to a dorm full of eighteen year olds who have probably never lived alone. Some of them are scared, some of them are excited, and some have no fucking idea what they are doing.

Ben doesn’t mind it, really. For as much as his best friend Poe likes to argue that Ben is a terrible people person, he’s actually a pretty good listener. And when it comes to advice, the only person who doesn’t seem to listen to his wise words seems to be Ben himself. He sets up an extra chair in the corner of his dorm and keeps a box of tissues on his desk in case he gets a crier (it happens, okay?). 

However, for as much traffic as his dorm gets, Rey’s seems to be _doubled._ No matter what time of the day it is, Ben can always hear people talking in her room across the hall. And it’s not even just people crying or freaking out - Ben has heard mostly laughter coming from behind her door.

(He does not dwell on how nice her laugh sounds, no way. He’s not a complete hopeless idiot.)

He finds himself getting annoyed at the thought that their floor just seems to _enjoy_ hanging out with Rey. Ben has only gotten the kids with the issues and most of the others avoid his eyes when they pass him in the hallway. 

It’s a little unfair.

“You’re mad because the underclassmen like her better?” Poe asks through a mouth full of biscotti, after Ben complains to him the next Monday before classes start. They’re at the campus coffee shop, their usual pre-semester routine since they were both freshmen in the math program. 

“What? No, I didn’t say that at all,” Ben retorts. 

Poe laughs, a spray of crumbs spilling from his mouth and onto the small table they’re sharing. Ben very quickly shields his sandwich with his hand. He still doesn’t understand how Poe manages to sleep with _anyone_ when he’s the most disgusting person Ben has ever had the displeasure of meeting. His eating habits are horrific.

“That’s _basically_ what you were saying, my guy,” Poe challenges, eyebrows raised.

Ben shakes his head. “I was just telling you how I’ve noticed they don’t come to me as much, but there always seems to be _someone_ in her room.”

“Because you’re boring.”

Ben sighs, rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his sandwich. “It’s not like I’m not making myself available, I hardly ever leave my room.”

“Because you’re a hermit.”

“I am _not.”_

“Anti-social?” Poe counters.

“ _Poe._ ”

The other man raises his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine, we’ll go with socially challenged.”

“I am not any of those things!” Ben nearly shouts. He’s been working on how he interacts with people, it’s one of the main reasons he applied for a RA position in the first place, so the reminder of his shortcomings slightly stings. “Look, we both took the same online training course over the summer for this job, so I just don’t understand why everyone seems to go to her when there are two of us available. She had a damn _line_ outside her door yesterday.”

Poe whistles, impressed. Ben runs a hand through his hair and slumps down in his chair.

“It’s only been a week, classes haven’t even _started,_ how are they having this many problems?” He wishes he didn’t sound so bitter as he asks the question out loud.

“Maybe they just like talking to her.”

Ben scowls. “Yeah, sure.”

Poe eyes him for a moment before he nods sagely, like he just came to some great realization. “Ah, I get it now.”

“Get what?” he asks, annoyed already that he decided to have this conversation with Poe in the first place. 

The other guy smirks. “You’re jealous.”

Ben gawks, nearly dropping his sandwich on the floor in his disbelief. “Are you high?”

“Sadly, no.”

“I’m not jealous of Rey.”

“You sound _super_ convincing.”

Ben throws a pickle at him. “I don’t know why I talk to you.”

“Because I’m your best friend, dipshit,” Poe laughs, picking the pickle slice off his shoulder and popping it in his mouth. Again, _disgusting._ “As much as you complain about having to deal with the underclassmen, you’re one-hundred percent jealous that they don’t come to hang out in your room.”

As much as he hates to admit that Poe is right _ever,_ Ben can’t help but feel like he may have a point. But it’s not because of Rey - he would feel this way with _whoever_ was assigned to be his floor partner - but mostly because he doesn’t want to be bad at this whole RA thing. It’s a huge responsibility, being in charge of forty underclassmen, and Ben doesn’t want to fuck it up.

Poe must notice the dour look on his face, because he reaches across the table to punch Ben in the shoulder. “Dude, it’s totally fine to feel that way, but look at it like a blessing!” 

“A blessing?” he asks, confused.

“Yeah, all those freshmen bugging her leaves you more time to study or mope or whatever you do in your free time.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Another pickle goes flying, this time smacking Poe in the middle of the forehead. The squawk he lets out has Ben nearly choking on his sandwich. 

——

Ben bumps into her the day before classes are set to start.

He’s a math major, so the fact that he has to take any sort of class that _isn’t_ related to his field of study in some way, just to graduate, is extremely annoying. The problem is, that if he wants to stay on track to get his degree at the end of the school year, he has to take some sort of history class. He’s been putting it off for too long and his advisor had to send him a very stern email over the summer that basically told him to _shut up and just fucking take the class, good LORD_.

(“How have you managed to not take a history class this far along in college?” Poe had asked, when Ben had complained to him over FaceTime the week of class registration.

“Pure skill,” he bit out, scrolling through the list of classes that the university had to offer, wondering if it was too late to just take the loss and tell his advisor to fuck off.

“Just take anything Ackbar is teaching. The guy is easy, hardly assigns homework, and you only have to write like one paper. The easiest A I’ve ever gotten.”

“How does he still have a job?”

“Tenure, duh.”) 

So that is how Ben found himself sitting in the back of a class for HU405: _Intro to Jedi Studies_ on his first day of classes.

The classroom is big enough, but there only seemed to be about fifteen other students in the class with him and they all equally look to be annoyed at being up this early. As a senior, Ben had attempted to keep his schedule to the early afternoon hours, since sleeping in is always a bonus. But an easy A was an easy A and Ben can deal with the early start time for a semester. 

Besides, that’s what the large coffee he got to go from his breakfast with Poe was for.

He’s nursing his large dark roast when the door to the classroom flies open with a bang, causing everyone in the room to jump in their seat. One weasel looking red-haired guy lets out a very high pitched yell, which scares everyone even more _._ Ben looks up, expecting to see Professor Ackbar and instead sees the last person he wants to see this morning.

Of course, _of course,_ Rey Johnson is in his class, because _god forbid_ he can go three hours without having to see her face.

(It’s not a bad face. It’s an objectively good face. Very symmetrical. Nice head shape.

And pretty. Like, really pretty, but that’s besides the point.)

She’s breathing harshly, like she had sprinted the entire way here, which Ben couldn’t understand since, judging by his phone, the class isn’t set to start for another five minutes. She’s wearing that maroon sweatshirt she had been wearing the first time they met and her hair’s piled up on her head in those stupid buns she seems to be so fond of. Ben watches as she looks around the room, seemingly to decide where she wants to sit, when her eyes meet his and widen in shock. Ben, being the idiot he is, gives a small wave.

Her surprise hardens into a harsh glare, and she stomps her way to a seat in the front row, as far away from Ben as possible. He can’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

At that moment, a tall, bald man whom he can only assume is Professor Ackbar strides in. He’s wearing a weird teal sweater and looks kind of _wet._ Ben isn’t sure if it’s sweat or the guy just always looks moist. He makes a face behind his coffee cup.

“Welcome, welcome!” 

As the professor starts unloading his bag, pulling out sheets of papers and a large book, Ben finds his eyes drifting back to where Rey sits in the front row. She’s very pointedly keeping her attention on Ackbar, but almost like she could feel his gaze on her, she slowly peeks at him from over her shoulder.

Once their eyes meet, she glares at him and turns back around. Ben sighs. It was going to be a long semester.

——

Ben wants to throw himself out a window.

Jesus Christ, it’s _the first day of class._ All they really need to discuss is the damn syllabus, but the entire class has been forced to listen to Rey and Professor Ackbar debate the finer points between the Jedi and the Sith for the past half hour. Ben just wants to know how many absences he’s allowed before it starts to affect his grade and they haven’t even _started_ to look at the class requirements for the semester.

“...personally, I think that the conflict between the Sith and the Jedi was just due to a lack of understanding. Both religions had similar beliefs and worshipped the same divine ‘force,’ but the Sith tended to be more passionate about those beliefs, whereas the Jedi were much more rational and logic focused.”

He doesn’t even know what Rey’s majoring in, but he would probably bet on it having to do with something like religious studies or history, given how passionate she seems to be about the subject matter of the class. 

It’s really annoying.

Luckily, Ben doesn’t seem to be the only one feeling that way about what has been happening for the past thirty minutes. The snobby looking red-headed guy juts his hand in the air and dramatically sighs. “Excuse me, are we going to be discussing the syllabus anytime soon? I have another class right after this, I can’t afford to be held over because _you_ got off track.”

Professor Ackbar lets out a nervous laugh. “Of course, of course, _terribly_ sorry. Miss Johnson, please feel free to bring up these points next week when we really begin, but let’s get back to the matter at hand!”

Red-headed guy grunts what Ben can only _assume_ is approval. Rey, for her part, seems to be trying to become one with her chair, with how slumped she’s sitting in it. Ben can’t help the small smile that creeps on his face when he notices how red the tips of her ears are from where he sits. 

The rest of the class passes by in a blur as Ackbar drones on about what they can expect for the rest of the semester. It’s pretty much the same spiel that the professors always give on the first day, and Ben makes sure to notate where it talks about absences and how he can expect to do a paper at the end of the semester that’ll make up most of the grade.

Ackbar releases them with the promise that next week will get into the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the Jedi and Ben resists the urge to roll his eyes. He really just does not like history in any shape or form. _Let the past die,_ he thinks as he shoves his notebook into his backpack and makes his way out of the classroom.

He’s not _purposely_ looking for her, but it doesn’t take long for Ben to bump into Rey in the hallway outside as she fiddles with something on her phone.

“Nice debate in there,” he teases, trying his best not to laugh as she jumps in surprise at his voice.

Rey glares up at him. “Are you purposely trying to annoy me?”

Ben smirks. “Why, am I succeeding?” 

She lets out a huff, turning on her heel to start walking away from him, turning her attention back to her phone. He really should be walking in the opposite direction, but he quickly falls into step beside her and Ben notices the way her shoulders stiffen in what he can only assume is annoyance.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck in a class with you,” she mutters under her breath. 

“Aren’t you lucky,” he snarks right back. 

“More like cursed, I’m sure.”

Ben ignores the slight sting he feels. He knows he fucked up the first time that they met, but he’s not sure he deserves...whatever this conversation is. “You’re a real _ray_ of sunshine, you know that?” 

“And you’re an asshole,” she quickly quips back, speeding up as she turns the corner to head down the stairs. “Good talk, let’s never do it again!”

Ben glares at the back of her head, yelling after her, “You read my mind!”

She flips him off without turning around, disappearing into the throng of students that are spilling out of some lecture hall at the bottom of the stairs. 

——

His interactions with Rey don’t seem to get any better.

It’s not for any lack of effort on Ben’s part - he honestly tries his best to be as polite and friendly as possible whenever they run into each other - but there’s something about how openly hostile Rey seems to act towards him any time he attempts to interact with her. Her answers are short, her glares are harsh, and she seems to flee from him every time he finds himself walking out of class at the same time as her.

He’s not sure what it is that bothers him so much about it. Ben’s never been the type to let anyone get to him like this, let alone a girl, but he can’t seem to stop thinking about how if he could fix it with Rey, he would, if only to make his RA life easier. Running a whole floor would probably be a lot easier if your partner could stand to be in your presence for longer than thirty seconds. 

(It would also be a lot easier if Ben wasn’t so damn attracted to her either, but he doesn’t really try to dwell on that, if only to prevent himself from getting what Poe would call _blue balls.)_

A month into their shared class together, things hit the fan.

He’s been annoyed for the past few days, after Holdo sent him an email asking him about his “attitude with the students on his floor” and the “lack of engagement some of the students believe he has about his job”. He immediately sent an email back to Holdo, asking to set up a meeting for as soon as possible, to discuss the entire thing. Ben isn’t sure what the students have been saying behind his back, and wasn't sure what more he could do to prove to them that he could be just as understanding and welcoming as Rey.

He _could._

The meeting went as well as to be expected - Holdo was understanding as Ben fumbled his way through an explanation of his recent behavior, of how he’s still just trying to figure out this whole job and everything it entailed, but he was _trying,_ he swore.

(“You know, you can always reach out to Rey if you need some help,” Holdo suggests, peering at him over her rimmed glasses from behind her large desk. “That’s what your fellow RA is there for - to assist you if you’re stuck or having any sort of issues. They’re your partner, Ben.”

Ben glances down at his hands in his lap - feels his heart stutter in his chest at the implication of Rey being anything more than the girl who glares at him whenever he makes eye contact with her - and nods. 

“You’re going to be fine, Ben,” Holdo assures him. “No one’s perfect at this job right from the get-go.”

“Thank you, professor,” he mumbles.)

His mood doesn’t help when he gets to his and Rey’s shared class.

Ben doesn’t know why he does it, he doesn’t even _like_ the stupid class. He’s only taking it because he needs another humanities credit this semester if he wants to keep his graduation on track and Poe _ass_

Ben’s not sure what comes over him at that moment. Rey’s giving some sort of impassioned speech about how the Jedi code should be considered the _true_ basis for modern religion and all he can think about is how he overheard Kaydel Connix tell Dopheld Mitaka about how Ben’s the _boring_ RA on their floor, but it’s only because Ben’s fucking _responsible_ and follows the damn _rules_ and how Holdo for sure thinks he’s sort sort of _basket case_ -

“They obviously weren’t _that_ prolific since none of them are around anymore,” he hears himself say out loud and everyone’s attention turns to him. Ackbar looks like he’s excited that someone else is finally trying to earn that class participation credit. Rey looks like she wants to rip his head off.

“That’s because the entire _religion_ was snuffed out by genocide!” she bites out, voice loud and harsh in the quiet classroom. He notices her nostrils flare from across the room as she glares at him. He snorts, slumping down further in his desk and rolling his eyes. 

“All I’m saying is that if the Jedi code was as _awe-inspiring_ as you swear it is, the religion would still exist _despite_ the murder,” he replies, giving her a shrug. 

Rey sputters, her eyes are wild and there’s a flush creeping it’s way up her neck. It’s the most unraveled he’s ever seen her look in the two months since he met her.

It’s kind of hot.

“Are you - do you even _hear_ yourself? You sound like a fucking ignorant _moron_ -“ 

“Oh, is that how you normally win debates?” He teases. “Calling people names?”

“I’m only telling the _truth - “_

“Or maybe you’re just so upset because I made an extremely valid point and you have no way to argue it. You’re just mad because you _lost._ ”

Her shoulders are tense and pulled up near her ears, like she’s resisting the urge of launching herself across the room and pummeling him in the face. Ben’s pretty sure he would let her at this point, if only so he would know what it feels like to have her hands on his face. He wonders if she’s as strong as her attitude would suggest, wonders how warm she would be if she pressed herself against him after tackling him to the floor.

Ben’s pretty sure this is the first time he’s ever gotten hard in class.

“You are such a little _shit,_ Solo, I swear to _god -“_

“Alright, alright! Excellent conversation, Mr. Solo and Miss Johnson,” Ackbar calls out and Ben feels his ears warm at the sudden snickers that are echoing throughout the room. Rey doesn’t seem to be faring much better, her face is practically crimson as she shoots him one more glare before turning back to the front of the class. “You both have very excellent points and I encourage everyone to explore these points in their mid-term essays due next week -“

Ackbar’s voice fades into an annoying buzz in his ears as he stares at the back of Rey’s head for the rest of class. She doesn’t turn around, doesn’t even shoot at glance at him over her shoulder, and when it comes time for Ackbar to dismiss them, she’s gone faster than Ben’s able to gather his stuff and follow her.

——

Ben hates the communal showers.

It’s the one thing about living on campus that drives him absolutely nuts. It doesn’t help that he’s forced to share it with a bunch of freshmen who still aren’t used to the idea of maybe accidentally seeing one of their dorm mates naked due to poor timing and shitty towels. If he has to take _one more complaint_ about someone seeing someone’s boobs or dick while using the showers, he was going to scream. This is what happens when you live in a dorm, he tells them.

He doesn’t normally shower this late, preferring to shower early in the morning when there’s less people around and he doesn’t have to worry about there not being any clear stalls, but Poe dragged him into playing basketball after their afternoon stats class and Ben can feel the sheen of sweat sticking to his entire body. He has no choice, really.

Ben gathers his stuff in the stupid shower caddy his mom bought him in his sophomore year, grabs his towel off the rod near his door, and makes his way down the hall.

Halfway to the bathroom, he feels his phone buzzing in his pocket and his sighs, pulling it out. Of course it’s a text from Poe, and Ben rolls his eyes as he swipes at his screen to read the text. He’s in the middle of reading the _paragraph_ that he’s been sent about how Poe _finally_ managed to get the number of the cute guy from his Intro to Philosophy class when Ben feels himself collide with something.

He stumbles back, the shower caddy falling to the ground and sending his shampoo bouncing along the carpet. 

Ben looks up, expecting to see some idiot freshman, but instead is greeted by a pair of tanned legs. He swallows, his gaze traveling upward and _, of course,_ it’s the last person he wants to see right now.

Rey.

And, because the universe is out to get him, she’s wearing nothing but the smallest black towel Ben has ever seen. If Ben leaned forward _just a bit_ and looked up, he’d probably be able to see underneath it and _what the fuck is that train of thought, you fucking pervert._

Quickly, he scoops up his shampoo and soap and stands up, careful to keep his gaze fixed on her forehead. She’s glaring at him, he can tell, but he can’t make eye contact with her, because if his eyes go any lower, they’re going to _keep_ going lower and he’s not sure his fragile horniness can handle the sight.

“Are you fucking blind?” she whisper-shouts at him, aware that it’s late and people are probably sleeping. “You ran right into me.”

“I didn’t _run_ \- I just, I was - it was an _accident,_ ” he manages to choke out. Her hair is still wet, a droplet of water sliding down her forehead, and Ben is suddenly assaulted with images of a wet and naked Rey standing underneath a cascade of water and _fucking shit,_ he can’t be having these thoughts while wearing _sweatpants._

And it sucks, because yes, Ben still thinks that she’s the prettiest girl on campus, and yes, he would love to ask her out one day in the hypothetical future where she doesn’t want to murder him, but she yelled at him in class yesterday and she still thinks he hates her and they’re too far along in the semester to start changing opinions _now._

Rey, thankfully, seems blissfully unaware of the current situation Ben is dealing with and is probably telling him off some more about being on his phone and not looking where he’s going, but all Ben can hear is the sound of his heart pounding in his chest and he needs to be out of this situation before he embarrasses himself any further.

“I have to go, sorry,” he mumbles, spinning on his heel and practically sprinting back to his room. He can hear Rey call out his name, can hear the confusion in her voice, but Ben doesn’t turn around or look back, only has the singular focus to get back into his room as quickly as he can. 

He shuts the door behind him, praying that she doesn’t knock on his door and try to talk to him about his hurried exit. Thankfully, the universe seems to have given him enough grief tonight, and he lets out a sigh of relief as he hears her door open and shut across the hall.

The problem now, though, is that he’s the hardest he’s ever been in his _life._ It would be just his luck that his cock would find the girl that hates his guts and would rather _call him an asshole_ attractive. 

With a huff, he pushes the band of his sweats and his underwear down, just enough to free his cock. He takes himself in hand, quickly fisting himself hard and fast, wanting to come and get this over with as quickly as possible. He really shouldn’t be doing this, is nearly positive that this breaks some sort of mutual RA agreement, but Ben is too turned on right now to even think straight. 

All he can think about is Rey in that tiny ass towel that barely covered _anything_ and why is this his life?

Even though he’s alone, even though he’s positive that no one will be able to hear him, he bites his fist to stifle any sort of noise in an attempt to make sure that if Rey suddenly changes her mind and finds herself at her door, she won’t hear him moaning against the door as he chases his release.

He comes suddenly at the thought of what he might have seen if her towel had dropped when they bumped into each other, if her tits would have been covered in freckles like her shoulders and collarbones were, if she would have been as turned on as he was instead of livid and angry. 

After taking a few gulping breaths, he looks down at the mess he’s made of his hand, his come dripping down his fist and on to the floor. He sighs, wiping his hand as best as he can on his sweats, and wondering if getting come stains out of the carpet will be easier than trying to get Rey out of his head.

——

Ben is in the middle of trying to study when there’s a knock on the door. 

Despite what he had complained to Poe about a few weeks ago, Ben did still get his fair share of students coming to his dorm for various issues they were having on the floor. Sure, it wasn’t nearly as many as Rey seemed to get on a daily basis, but it was enough to make Ben feel like maybe he wasn’t a total failure at this RA thing.

“Come in,” he calls out, shutting his laptop and setting it aside as he waits for whatever poor freshman to walk in with their complaint. 

Instead, like it usually seems to happen, he’s surprised to see Rey standing in his doorway, a sour look on her face.

“Can I talk to you?” she asks after a moment of awkward silence, when it becomes apparent that Ben isn’t going to try to start any sort of conversation. 

Ben leans back in his desk chair to look up at her, and he really should offer her a place to sit, but she called him an idiot last week in Ackbar’s class, so sue him for feeling a little petty. “Sure.”

She fidgets, twisting the sleeve of that stupid sweatshirt she always seems to be wearing in her hands. “So, I have a proposition for you.”

At her words, Ben’s mind is suddenly racing a mile a minute. Images of Rey in her little black towel that he may or may not have been jerking off to for the past two weeks slams to the forefront of his mind and his jeans suddenly feel extremely tight. Ben’s thankful that he’s still sitting behind his desk, since if she saw that he was _excited,_ she’d probably slap him or report him to Holdo.

“A proposition?” he asks, hoping his voice doesn’t sound as hopeful as he was feeling.

“Yes,” she replies, eying him curiously _._ “It’s about the monthly floor activity.”

He feels his heart drop in his chest. Of course she wasn’t here to try to sleep with him, what the hell is wrong with him even _thinking_ that? She hates his guts, and as much as the idea of hate sex appeals to him, Ben is pretty sure Rey isn’t in the same boat. 

Hoping he doesn’t look disappointed, he schools his features into something proclaiming _casual indifference_ and replies, “What about it?”

“Well, we haven’t had one yet this month and it’s the last week of October so…” she trails off, pulling again on the ends of her sweatshirt. “We have to do one this Saturday and I was thinking a movie night in the common area.”

Ben gapes at her. “It’s Halloween weekend.”

“I’m aware,” she replies, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“No one’s going to come.”

“You don’t know that,” she snaps back at him with a glare.

Ben can’t help the harsh laugh that escapes him at that moment. “We are in a dorm with a bunch of undergrads who are living on their own for the first time - they are not going to want to come to a movie night on _Halloween,_ they’re going to want to go to a frat party and get drunk.”

“Again, you don’t know that,” she huffs out, jutting her nose in the air and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Ben tries not to notice how the action emphasizes her tits.

“As someone who was once an idiotic freshman, I definitely know that.”

“One would argue you are still idiotic.”

Ben glares at her. “For someone seeking my help, you think you’d be acting a little nicer.”

“What can I say, you bring out something in me,” Rey hisses at him and Ben bites back the desire to ask her what else he can possibly get out of her. They glare at each other for a moment before she lets out a long sigh. “Listen, if we don’t have some sort of floor wide activity by the end of this week, Holdo’s going to write us both up.”

“Fine,” he mumbles, sighing. “What movie are we watching?”

For the first time this entire interaction, Rey looks caught off guard. “I was thinking we could just let them pick.”

“You want to potentially leave the option open for forty people to try to pick one movie?” 

Another glare, another haughty nose up-turn at him. “Yes, I do.”

Ben merely sighs again, slumping back in his desk chair. “Fine, but you’re writing up the incident report if people start fighting.”

She smirks. “I thought you said no one’s going to come?”

“If, in a weird upside down world where people don’t give a shit about Halloween and people come to this thing, I want to keep all my bases covered.” He shrugs - the last thing he wants to do is have to write some report for something he doesn’t even want to do in the first place.

“Fine.”

He gives her a grin. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”

“You’re such an ass,” she says under her breath, turning on her heel and stomping out of his dorm room, slamming his door behind him.

“Have a good night!” he sarcastically calls through the now shut door and Ben can just imagine her flipping him off from the other side. With a sigh, he pulls his laptop back in front of him and gets back to studying.

——

**Poe**

_Kappa omega rho is throwing a keger_

_Meet me in the quad at 9_

**Ben**

_Can’t. We’re doing that floor wide movie night._

**Poe**

_Skip it_

**Ben**

_It’s part of my job, Poe. I have to be there._

**Poe**

_It’s HALLOWEEN im dressed like a PIRATE ben_

**Ben**

_All the more reason to NOT GO._

_No one needs to see you in that much eyeliner._

**Poe**

_You just want to ogle your hot co worker in a cat costume_

**Ben**

_Fuck off. Have fun with that inevitable hangover._

**Poe**

_Booooo you whore_

Ben sighs, shoving his phone in the back pocket of his jeans as he makes his way down the hall to the floor’s common area. Rey had left a note on his door last night that was basically a grocery list of snacks that Ben could only assume she wanted him to get, so his arms are laden with bags of candy and chips. 

As much as Ben has been dreading this night, he is pretty grateful for the excuse to skip out on going to a Halloween party. He would have had to find a last minute costume, which was always a hassle, and then would get stuck trying to flirt with whatever person Poe threw at him in an attempt to get Ben laid.

(Which, he would like to point out, he did _not_ need any help with, thank you very much.)

And being an RA meant that the rules were a little stricter. If Ben got caught stumbling back to his dorm room drunk, he could lose his position or possibly get in some major trouble with the school. The last thing he needed in his senior year was to get caught up in some sort of _legal issues._

The hall’s quiet - Ben is nearly positive that everyone’s out enjoying their Halloween and his suspicions are confirmed when he walks into the common area to see it only occupied by Rey.

Rey wearing a _cat costume._

 _God fucking dammit,_ he’s going to murder Poe.

It isn’t even one of the sexier cat costumes that he’s ever seen - she’s just wearing a black t-shirt with some black leggings, a pair of cat ears on her head, but she usually wears that _stupid_ sweatshirt and it never showed off her curves like _this._ Ben finds himself staring at her ass as she faces away from him, messing with something on the table.

He must let out some sort of noise - Ben prays that it wasn’t something embarrassing like a _whine -_ because she spins around as if surprised at his sudden presence. 

“Fuck , you scared me!” Her hand is clutching at her chest and of course her shirt was low cut, _of course it was._ She has freckles and Ben briefly wonders how far down they went. God, he hopes she hadn’t caught him checking out her ass.

“Well, it is Halloween,” he mumbles out lamely.

For a moment, Rey looks like she wanted to laugh, but she just shakes her head and gestures to an empty table near the door. “Just set the stuff on that table over there.”

“Okay.” He follows her instructions, setting the bags down and starting to pull out the small selection of snacks the campus store had to offer. Now that he’s distracted, Ben takes notices of how the entire room is decked out in Halloween decorations. There are bat cut outs stuck to the walls, orange streamers hanging from corner to corner and even a homemade sign on top of the TV proclaiming ‘ _It’s freaking bats - I love Halloween.’_

He clears his throat awkwardly. “This...looks nice.”

Rey looks up, staring at him for a moment from across the room, as if waiting for him to make a joke. When he doesn’t continue, she rubs the back of her neck. “Oh, um, thanks. It was kind of last minute, so I had to get whatever the dollar store had left.”

Ben nods. “You did a lot of work.”

“It was just some party decorations,” she counters, but Ben notices a slight pink flush on her cheeks. He doesn't think he has ever made her turn that particular shade unless she was pissed at him. He, weirdly, feels a small surge of pride.

“You could have asked me to help set up.”

“You were on snack duty.” She’s turned around so Ben can’t see her face and he was nearly positive it was so that he can’t see her blushing. He resists the urge to look at her ass again.

“Yeah, but I could have - I’m not a total monster, you know, I would have helped.” And that was the truth. For as much as they argued and snarked at each other, Ben knew that if she ever asked him for help, he wouldn’t hesitate to assist. 

She simply shrugs, still not facing him. “I’ll remember that for next time.”

Sensing that she wants to end that particular conversation, Ben grabs one of the bags on the table that was holding the sodas to place them in the shitty little fridge that the university had placed for the floor to use. They both work in silence - Rey fixing the last bit of decorations she had set up and Ben arranging the snacks on the table in a way that made the most sense - but it didn’t take long for him to realize that they were going to have to address the elephant in the room.

“Do you still think anyone’s going to show up?” he asks.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rey stiffen slightly. “It’s still early -“

“It’s nine-thirty.”

“- and there’s still plenty of -“

“Kappa Omega Rho’s throwing a keger.”

Her rigid posture slumps. “...fuck.”

Everyone on campus knew that if the KOR threw a party, it was not something that was to be missed. They always seemingly had the best booze and no one in the neighborhood where the frat house stood seemed to care that they blasted music until five in the morning. Their parties were the ones you talked to your friends about for weeks and usually ended with you waking up on the roof of the science department without one of your shoes and not remembering how you got there.

Or maybe that was just Ben in sophomore year. It was a toss up, really.

“Sorry to say, it looks like all your decorations are going to waste,” he tells her. She finally glances over at him and Ben;s a little surprised to see that she looks...disappointed? Hurt? Downtrodden? It isn’t a look that he’s used to seeing on her face and it makes him feel a little uneasy. 

He doesn’t like it.

“Well, at least someone saw them, I guess,” she mumbles.

Rey looks like she’s ready to go back to her room and maybe mope, and Ben - well, he didn’t give up a chance to hook up with an annoying undergrad for nothing. He sighs, grabbing a bag of chips from the table and plopping down on the beat up orange couch in front of the TV.

“What are you doing?” Rey asks, sounding confused.

“It’s a movie night, right?” He gestures to the TV. “Put on a movie, Johnson.”

She huffs out something that sounds like disbelief, but Ben is pleased to see that she was making her way to where the remote sat on the coffee table. “I’m going to put on a Disney movie.”

“Go for it.”

“It’s probably going to have singing animals in it,” she warns, turning on the TV.

“Can’t wait.” He rips open his bag of Lays.

She presses something on the remote, pulling up the Disney+ app. “It’ll make you cry.”

“I’m sure it won’t.” Ben takes a handful of chips and shoves them in his mouth.

Rey presses a few more buttons before the familiar Disney logo splashes across the screen and the intro music swells. She sits down on the other end of the couch, as if she’s trying to sit as far away from him as possible.

“I don’t bite,” he teases, shaking the Lays at her. “Don’t you want some?”

She glances over at him, another blush rising on her cheeks, and rolls her eyes. Ben is certain she’s going to stay where she is, but as whatever colorful cartoon starts, he watches in shock as she scoots over on the couch until they are only a couple inches apart. He smirks and turns back to the screen.

And that’s how they end up watching _The Fox and the Hound._

_——_

“I can’t believe that you actually _cried.”_

“I didn’t - I was not _crying,_ there is a lot of dust in here, okay?” Ben explains, because it’s easier than admitting that a fictional friendship between a cartoon fox and dog made him feel more emotional than anything has in a very long time. “I’m sure this couch hasn’t been cleaned in years.”

Rey doesn’t say anything in response, but he can see her smirking from the other end of the couch, where she’s curled up with a box of pretzels. It’s the closest thing that he’s gotten to a smile from her since that first day they met, before she had decided that he wasn’t worth the effort of being nice to. 

He pokes her with his foot. “Don’t _laugh_.”

She glares at him, shoving his leg away from her. “And don’t _touch_ me with your gross feet.”

Ben huffs, shoving out his foot one more time to poke her thigh. 

“You’re the _worst,_ ” she grumbles, the smirk on her face slipping off to be replaced with a glare. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she defaulted into her usual grumpy persona, since sitting in jovial peace for the past hour seemed to be the limit of their tolerance for each other.

“I just watched a Disney movie with you for an hour and a half and this is the thanks I get?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want a parade?” she snarks back, her voice a sickly sweet, like she’s talking to a child. Ben rolls his eyes, pushing himself to his feet to throw away the small pile of empty Coke cans he’s accumulated into the large recycling bin in the corner.

Ben looks around the room, at the cute decorations and the snacks that still sit on the long table to the back. His gaze falls on a stack of old board games that sit in the corner near the television and feels the beginning of an idea forming at the edge of his mind. “So, what now?”

“What do you mean?” she asks, twisting around on the sofa to peer up at him.

He shrugs. “I mean, we can’t end the night with something as mundane as a _cartoon._ ”

“Sure we can,” she replies, but she sounds unsure which he latches onto like a lifeline.

“Johnson,” he counters, leveling her with a serious stare. “It’s _Halloween._ You made me come to this thing -“

“I didn’t _make_ you, it’s our job -“

“- you didn’t even pick a _scary_ movie for us to watch, the least we can do is _try_ to have some fun.”

She’s biting her lip and Ben ignores the twitch he feels in his pants at the sight of it. She’s thinking about it, though, which is a surprising turn of events. Ben would have bet a month ago that she’d rather eat her own foot than spend any more time with him than strictly necessary. 

It’s a Halloween miracle, really.

“So, what? You want to watch another movie?” 

Ben shakes his head, making his way over to the board games and digging through them for a moment before pulling out a small box of playing cards with a triumphant _a-ha!_

Rey looks at him, confused. “You want to play cards.”

“Poker,” he corrects, a smirk spreading across his face as he makes his way back to the couch to sit across from her, one foot resting on the floor, the other curled up in front of him to face her.

“Like...Vegas poker?”

“I believe it’s usually referred to as Texas Hold’em,” he counters, shuffling the deck on the cushion between them. She lets out a huff.

“How is this anymore interesting than just putting another movie on?”

“ _Because,”_ he explains, his grand plan unfolding, “we are going to play strip poker.”

Rey, as to be expected, looks scandalized. “What?! I’m not going to play _strip poker_ with you, you fucking -“

“Why? You scared?” He’s not sure why he decided to go this route since it’s very obvious that Ben is the last person she’d ever want to play a game like this with. But the idea was too tempting and Ben’s feeling reckless.

It is Halloween, after all.

She scoffs. “Of you? Never.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

She gapes at him, as if she’s not sure he’s serious or not. “Well, for one, we’re in the common area, _anyone_ could just walk in.” 

He’s honestly surprised that her first objection isn’t that she just doesn’t want to see him naked. “It’s ten-thirty on Halloween, no one is coming back for hours.” 

“And it’s entirely inappropriate, we work together -“

Another eye roll from him. “You don’t even make eye contact with me in the hallway, I hardly count that as a co-worker relationship.”

“I’ve only played poker like _twice,”_ she practically shrieks. Ben resists the urge to laugh.

“Listen, Johnson, all you have to do is say that you’re worried I’m going to beat you and make you look like a fool and we can be on our merry way,” he suggests, honestly expecting her to stomp out of here in huff and call him a pervert or something.

“Fine,” she grinds out.

“Oh, so you admit you’re worried -“

She cuts him off. “Let’s play then.”

It’s Ben’s turn to gape. “Wait, really?”

“Look who’s scared now,” she teases, sounding more confident than she did five minutes ago. 

He shrugs. “Not scared, just surprised.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m very comfortable being naked, okay?” she explains, turning up her nose slightly and crossing her arms over her chest.

The image of her walking down the hallway in nothing but a towel pushes itself to the forefront of his mind and he struggles not to choke on air. “Good for you,” he mumbles, handing over the shuffled cards to her. “Since I’m a gentleman, you can deal.”

“How sweet of you,” she replies, rolling her eyes and snatching the cards out of his hand. Ben merely grins.

This should be fun.

——

Ben may have made a mistake.

It’s not often that he admits he’s wrong, a flaw that his mother is constantly reminding him is going to get him in trouble one of these days and one that Ben very pointedly ignores. However, his mom may have been on to something because they’ve been playing for a half hour and he’s sitting across from a fully-clothed Rey wearing nothing but a thin undershirt, underwear and a pair of socks. The only thing he’s managed to get her to take off is her pair of cat ears. 

He’s not sure what the hell happened.

“You’re cheating,” he grinds out as Rey beats him _yet again_ with a straight flush and crows in victory as he yanks off his socks, tossing them into the pile of clothes in front of him on the floor.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she sing-songs. Ben glares at her as she shuffles the cards for the next round. He’s not sure where this entire thing backfired on him - maybe it was karma for wanting to see her tits after being haunted by the ghost of them for the past few weeks.

This is what he gets for being a horny college boy.

“You’re giving me shit cards,” he argues.

She stops mid-shuffle to shoot him a glare. “I’m shuffling them, you’re just unlucky.”

“You made me think you _sucked_ at this game.”

“And _you_ just wanted to get me naked.”

“You’re a cardshark.”

“And you’re gross.”

Ben feels like his ears are on fire, but ignores them in favor of pointing an accusing finger at her. “You’re the one getting _me_ naked.”

“Because you’re _losing,”_ she nearly shouts. “It’s part of the game that _you_ suggested we play here!”

She has a point, but Ben has gotten too far to admit to that now. He runs a hand over his face as he sighs. “Just deal the fucking cards, Johnson.”

“Oh, so you still want to play even though you know you’re going to lose?” she asks, more surprised than anything. She probably expected him to admit defeat and run back to his dorm room with his tail between his legs. But, along with never wanting to admit he’s wrong, he’s also terribly stubborn.

Another flaw his mother enjoys reminding him of.

“Deal _the cards._ ”

She eyes him for a moment, before shrugging and resuming her shuffling technique. The only sound in the room is the sound of the cards 

Unsurprisingly, Ben loses the next round to Rey’s pair of aces and he angrily yanks his t-shirt off with one hand. This is so _stupid,_ she’s obviously cheating, but he’s too far in to give up now. If he gives up, she wins and he’s not sure how he’s supposed to survive the rest of the year with her if he knows that he allowed her to get the best of him.

Rey, to her credit, looks like she just won the lottery and discovered the true meaning of Christmas all in one. She’s practically _dancing_ in her seat as she gathers up the cards and Ben can swear that she’s humming to herself. It would be annoying if it also wasn’t the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

But then he notices her gaze travel downward and kind of just...stop. She’s still shuffling, but it’s like she’s doing it on autopilot. Her eyes widen ever so slightly and Ben is concerned for a moment that he has something on him when he realizes where her gaze has fallen.

The space between his legs where his dick sits.

It’s _fine._ It’s totally _fine._ He’s had people look at his dick before, it’s not that _weird_ except -

Except that this is Rey and she hates him and she looks like she wants to kill him most of the time, but right now, she’s practically ogling him and if Ben had to describe the look on her face right now, it would be akin to _hunger_ and seriously, what the fuck was happening?

She won’t stop staring at it.

“Enjoying the view, Johnson?” he teases.

“What - I don’t -,” she sputters, her face turning the brightest shade of crimson that he’s ever seen. “Don’t be disgusting.”

“Hey, you’re the one with the wandering eyes, not me.”

She won’t make eye contact with him, he notices, resolutely staring at the cushion that separates the two of them. “I’m not - I was not checking you out.”

He pretends to ponder for a moment. “I don’t know, seems like you might have been checking me out.”

“You are so full of yourself, oh my god,” she groans, rolling her eyes. Her face, however, stays _very_ pink. “I would never do that.”

“One might say the lady doth protest too much.”

“Oh, so now you’re an English expert?”

“And now you’re deflecting.”

“You’re such an ass.”

“Don’t be mad because I’m pointing out something that you were _obviously_ doing.”

Rey lets out a huff, shoulders squaring as she looks back at the cards in her hand and refusing to say anything more. Ben wonders briefly if he might have crossed a line somewhere with his teasing, but then he remembers that he’s currently sitting here in his _underwear_ because Rey is a no good cheater who severely downplayed her poker skills and well…

Having a hot girl check out your dick is always going to be a nice ego-boost.

He’s about to set down his cards, proud of the fact that he actually was blessed with a good hand when Rey clears her throat.

“It’s just -,” she mumbles, twisting her cards in her hand as she meets his eyes. It’s almost like she’s _nervous,_ which is a look he’s never seen on her before. “I mean, there’s no way - you’ve obviously... _enhanced_ yourself, right?”

Ben’s nearly positive that all the air has been sucked out of the room because he suddenly can’t breathe.

“I mean, no one can be _that big -_ “

He’s dying, he’s _actually_ dying.

“- it’s like a sock or something -“

Ben’s mind is racing a mile a minute because of all the ways he expected this conversation to go, it was definitely not _this_ way.

“Are you seriously implying that I shoved a fucking _sock_ in my underwear?!” He finally manages to choke out. Rey’s face reddens even more and she has the nerve to look sheepish.

“Well...yes,” she replies, quietly. 

He just stares at her for a moment, unsure of what to say. It’s not like Ben has gone around measuring his dick in comparison with other guys on campus, but he goes to the gym, okay? He’s been in a men’s locker room and has had to deal with plenty of roommates who are way more comfortable being naked in front of a near stranger than he is. And despite Poe’s teasing, he’s not a fumbling virgin, okay? That’s all to say, he knows he’s a bit larger than the average guy. It’s just not something he goes around advertising.

He opens his mouth to answer, to maybe argue with her some more, when he notices her hands shake ever so slightly as she deals out his two cards to him. He picks them up and is greeted by the ace and king of diamonds.

Maybe, just maybe, this could work in his favor.

“You know,” he starts, “there is _one_ way to get your answer.”

She is still staring pointedly at her cards as she flips over the first three cards - the four of spades, the queen of diamonds, and the two of clubs. She doesn’t look up at him, doesn’t even bother deign him with a response.

“I mean, all you have to do is beat me here and you’ll find out if I’m that much of a loser,” he tells her, waiting as she flips over the next card - ten of diamonds. She’s humming to herself now, almost like she’s trying to drown out the sound of his voice. It reminds Ben of being a child when his parents would argue, so he’d shove his fingers in his ears and hum utter nonsense to block them out.

She flips over the final card.

The jack of diamonds.

_Holy shit, he got a royal flush._

He can’t betray his win too easily, especially since Rey is so convinced that he’s hopeless at this game. He can’t seem too eager, not when he’s finally going to get an article of clothing off her after what seemed like a hopeless streak of bad hands. Maybe the universe didn’t hate him completely.

She’s still not speaking to him, but he can see a small smirk appearing on her face as she flips her cards over to reveal a pair of kings. 

“Three of a kind, Solo.”

“Oh wow,” he exclaims, pretending to sigh as he holds his hand close to his chest. “That is such a good hand.”

“I know, right?” She’s practically grinning in delight, so sure that she has him beat. “Guess we’re going to see what you’re packing.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, finally flipping his cards over. “Except I guess I finally got a good hand?”

The room is silent as Rey stares down at his cards, almost as if she can’t believe him. It does seem like some weird twist of fate, like the universe was finally giving him a solid after making him sit here in nothing but his underwear while Rey tried not to laugh at him. Her mouth keeps opening and closing, like she’s trying to find the words to explain what is happening.

“I don’t - how could you have - _what,”_ she sputters, looking up at him in disbelief. Ben merely shrugs.

“They do say gambling is mostly luck.” He gives her a slow once over, figuring it’s only fair for how she was staring at his dick earlier. Her cheeks are pink when he meets her eyes again. “Yours must have ran out.”

“Fine, _fine._ ” She sounds upset, _pissed._ Honestly, the reaction is a bit more aggressive than is probably warranted, especially since Ben had removed pretty much all his clothing with only minimal complaints. He’s about to tell her that she can just be a sore loser and admit that he’s beaten her at this weird animosity fueled game they have going on, but then she suddenly grips the hem of her t-shirt and yanks it up.

The first thought that Ben has is that her bra is the prettiest blue lace thing he has ever _seen._ The second is that instead of tossing her shirt somewhere to the side like he had with his, she seems to have just...stopped. 

It’s an odd sight, that’s for sure. As much as Ben would just love to continue checking out her tits, she’s just staying there with her elbows above her head and her shirt covering her face. She gives a few wiggles here and there, almost as if -

“Are you - did your shirt get stuck?” 

Rey lets out what can only be described as a growl. “What does it look like, asshole?”

“Colorful language from someone who needs my help.”

Another growl, this sounding very similar to _motherfucker._ “I _don’t_ need your help,” she shouts from under the fabric, wiggling even harder now as she attempts to flap her elbows back and forth. Ben can’t help the snort of laughter that escapes him.

“I think you do, Johnson, unless your plan is to rip a massive hole in your shirt,” he counters.

“Maybe it is,” she snarks at him, sounding just as bratty as _always._ He doesn’t know why she’s so adamant that she doesn’t need any help when it’s very obvious that she does, since her dumb shirt is still covering her face and he’s nearly positive that the quiet buzzing he’s hearing is her whining to herself.

“Don’t be stupid,” he mumbles, scooting towards her on the couch.

“I’m _not_ stupid, I am perfectly capable of helping myself out -“

“Rey, let me help you before you break your elbow,” he requests, hoping that he sounds earnest. He _really_ does want to help her, if only because he doesn’t want to be held responsible if she hurts herself. He’s not entirely sure how he’d be able to explain that to Holdo.

And maybe to see her face when she inevitably catches him checking her out.

Maybe.

After what seems like ages and a few more wiggles, she finally slumps in defeat and sighs out a bitter, “...fine.”

Ben’s careful as he reaches out, not wanting to scare her since she can’t exactly see what he’s doing. His hands hover briefly near her ribs and he’s suddenly gripped with the idea that this is the first time he’s ever going to touch her, that she’s actually _allowing_ him to. It’s not the most ideal of circumstances, but he’s never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Slowly, his fingers make contact with the skin just below where her shirt sits, near the top part of the band of her bra. She gives a small twitch, more reactionary than anything, but doesn’t say anything. He gently grips the ends of her shirt and begins to tug it up, careful to not twist her anymore than she had already done to herself. She’s so warm and he swallows at the sight of goosebumps popping up along her skin.

His heart is pounding in his chest, he’s nearly positive his cock has started to get hard just at the _proximity_ and is he breathing weird? 

_Congratulations_ , the voice in his head speaks, _you played yourself._

“There,” he tells her quietly, pulling the last bit of fabric off her head and letting it drop between them. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”

For the first time, Ben realizes how close they’ve gotten while he was helping her out of her predicament. There’s no longer a cushion separating the two of them, only a small sliver of space.

She looks up at him and he feels his heart stutter in his chest. “Um, thank you,” she whispers.

“You’re welcome,” he automatically replies, because she’s just _staring_ up at him and her gaze keeps dropping to his mouth and Ben is pretty sure that if he breathes wrong, he would ruin whatever the fuck is currently happening. 

“I’m just - I’m going -“ Rey mumbles, but she doesn’t move, doesn’t do anything at all. For as much as Rey enjoys antagonizing him and getting under his skin, the sight of her just looking up at him, seemingly at a loss for words, is throwing him for a loop. Her mouth keeps moving, like she’s trying to say something and Ben’s about to suggest they forget the game and go back to their rooms -

And then suddenly, they’re kissing.

It takes a moment, only a moment, before Ben’s brain seems to catch up. Mostly because of all the possible endings that this night had, Rey licking into his mouth and tangling her hands in his hair was _definitely_ nowhere on his list. His hands seem to be three steps ahead of his own thoughts, since they find purchase on Rey’s hips and then proceed to haul her forward, until she’s straddling his thighs. 

Rey kisses him like she argues with him - aggressively. Her fingers pull at the ends of his hair and she’s moving his head where _she_ wants him to go, almost like even in this non-verbal spar that they have going on, she can’t help but try to be in charge.

It’s both frustrating and extremely hot.

He’s not complaining though, not really, especially when she bites his bottom lip when his hand palms at her breasts. They’re so soft and warm beneath the lacy blue fabric of her bra, and he tugs down one of the cups in order to twist a nipple between his fingers. She sighs against his mouth, in what Ben takes for encouragement.

He manages to pull his mouth away from hers to work his way down her neck, licking and biting against her freckled skin. He laves a tongue around her nipple before he sucks it into his mouth, causing Rey to grind against where his cock is pressing up against his underwear. He messes with the hooks on her bra until he has both of her breasts bared in front of him.

He wastes no time in moving his attention to her other breast, using one hand to massage the other. Rey’s moans above him and he honestly shouldn’t be surprised by how vocal she is, especially when she spends most of their shared class together talking her head off.

It’s a blessing, really.

Ben’s not sure how they ended up at this point, how Rey decided that he was suddenly worthy of sucking at her, frankly, perfect tits. This whole night seems to be cut out of some bizarre reality, but he’s going to take the full advantage of the situation.

He cups her over her leggings and can already feel how damp she is. She grinds against his hand, like she’s desperate to get any sort of friction against the spot she needs it the most.

“Can I -“ he starts to ask, but she’s already nodding frantically, working herself harder against where the heel of his palm is pressed against her. Not wanting to risk her changing her mind, Ben pulls at her leggings until he can work his hand beneath the band of them. He lets out what can only be described as a growl when he realizes that she’s not wearing anything underneath.

“I wanted,” she answers, gasping as his fingers make contact with her folds. “These leggings are thin - _fuck -_ okay?”

“Definitely not complaining.” His fingers dip towards her entrance and her hips cant in response, a needy whine coming from the back of her throat. “Fuck, Rey, you’re so _wet_.”

The thought creeps into his mind briefly - how long she’s been wet, if it’s been since her gaze fell on him in nothing but his underwear. 

“Ben, please, I need—“ she gasps, voice cutting off when his fingers part her folds.

Her voice cuts off as he slides one finger inside of her. She’s so tight, he feels his cock twitch at the feeling. He hasn’t done anything like this in so long, he’s almost afraid he’s doing it _wrong_ but Rey keeps pushing her hips against his hand, trying to get him deeper, and he thinks he must be doing something right. 

“What do you need?” he says against her throat, as he sucks at sensitive skin there. She squirms beneath and Ben pulls back to look at her, afraid that he might be doing something wrong. Her bottom lip is trapped between her teeth, like she’s holding back. Ben wishes she would stop, wants to hear every gorgeous sound that she’s capable of as he continues to pump his fingers. “Come on, Rey, tell me what to do. Tell me what you _want_.”

She groans again. “Can you - I need -“

“Whatever you want, Rey, _whatever.”_

“Your mouth,” she finally manages to choke out and Ben’s entire brain screeches to a halt.

“Jesus fuck,” he whispers before capturing her lips in a searing kiss. 

He wraps his arms around her before falling back against the cushions, Rey’s weight on top of him a warm reminder of what’s about to come. He pulls at the band of her leggings in an attempt to get them off, until Rey takes pity on him and helps him push them off. They join the rest of the clothes in a pile on the floor.

He kisses between her breasts, working his way down her body as he pulls her up further on his body. It doesn’t take long before he has her kneeling above her, her legs bracketing his head.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her voice raised in what he can only describe as shocked scandal. Ben adjusts her above him, hands resting on the top of her thighs to keep her in place.

“You wanted my mouth, right?” he breathes against the opening of her cunt - her perfect little cunt, just hovering right in front of his face, practically begging for him to put his mouth on it.

“I mean, yes, but -“

“Then let me give you what you want.” Before she has a chance to reply, he’s licking a harsh stripe in between her folds. Rey keens above him, hands finding purchase in his hair, like she’s doing her best not to fall over.

He eats her out like a man _starved,_ like she’s the best thing he’s tasted and it’s not too fair from the truth. Ben is pretty sure the scent of her is causing him to feel like he’s in some sort of drugged out fog. She tastes even better than he ever dreamed, better than he could have thought when he was busy fucking his fist in his shitty dorm room and thinking about her. 

“Oh my _god,”_ she groans out above him, and now she’s moving against his face, his nose bumping against her clit in a way that has her nearly shouting in the quiet room. She’s so wet, so _fucking wet -_ Ben is pretty sure that she’s dripping on his face and it’s the hottest thing he’s ever experienced. 

She pulls at his hair and Ben groans against her folds. He moves one of his arms, making sure to keep the other in place to keep her pressed against him. It takes some effort, but he manages to work his hand in a way to press two fingers into her cunt. 

“Ben, fuck - I can’t -“ 

She works herself against his face at a faster pace, tugging at his hair and he’s nearly seeing stars. His cock is practically yelling at him, but he doesn’t even care, too focused on the feeling Rey surrounding him completely. 

He changes tactics, sucking at her clit, desperate to feel her fall apart above him. He thrusts his fingers into her faster, curling them inside her in an effort to find that place inside her that has her whining. He needs to feel her come all over his fingers before he turns her over and fucks her, because there is no other way that this night can end, he’s sure of it.

“I’m so close - shit, _Ben.”_ And then she’s coming, her cunt tightening around his fingers as he keeps pressure on her clit until she’s lifting herself off his face. They’re both panting and Ben’s nearly positive he looks a mess, but he’s never felt more accomplished than he does at this moment.

Forget the degree he’s nearly secured.

“I knew that mouth of yours had to be good for something,” Rey teases, shifting until she’s straddling him again. Ben huffs out a laugh.

“I just made you come and you’re going to give me shit?” 

Rey’s grinning and, damn, if that doesn’t make his heart jump in his chest. “Did you expect anything less?”

Ben shakes his head, another laugh escaping him as he pulls her down to him to capture her lips in another kiss. She’s laughing as she kisses him, almost like she’s trying to taste herself on him. He groans at the thought and feels her hands creeping down his chest, their destination obvious when she dances the tips of her fingers against his cock.

“Please,” he pleads, kissing his way up her jaw to bite at her earlobe. “Please let me fuck you.”

“Yes, yes,” she mumbles, arching against him in a way that has her perfect breasts pressing against his chest. Ben manages to kick off his underwear

“I have -,” another thrust, “I have condoms in my room.”

The thought of having to stop this, of having to potentially get dressed and walk all the way back to his dorm just so he could potentially fuck her, is _agonizing._ What if she changes her mind in that short period of time? What if she’s gone by the time he gets back? He could always drag her back to his room so that way they don’t have to separate, but Ben’s almost afraid to break the spell that has grabbed a hold of the two of them in this room in the past few hours. 

“I’m clean and I have an IUD,” she admits, pulling Ben from his thoughts. She grinds her bare cunt against his cock and Ben just stares up at her, panting. “I’m assuming you’re clean too, since I haven’t seen you bring any girls back to your room.”

“Keeping tabs on me?” he asks, unable to help the small smile that creeps on to his face. The idea of Rey watching him gives him more joy than should be necessary.

“Don’t let it go to your head, Solo.”

Ben merely smiles wider. “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. Besides, you’re not _wrong._ ”

She lets out a gasp. “I’m sorry, what was that? Are you admitting I’m right about something for _once_?”

“Oh, shut up,” he groans out. He makes a move to pick her up, to change their positions so that he can fuck her into the couch like he very much wants to, but she pushes against his chest to keep him down.

“What -“ he starts.

“If you think I’m going to put my naked back on this _disgusting_ couch -“

“You can’t be serious.” 

“Do you want to fuck me?” she asks bluntly.

His cock gives a twitch. “Yes,” he replies, voice breathless. “Desperately.”

Rey’s face reddens slightly at his words, but she looks determined as she pushes his shoulders back until he’s flat on his back on the couch. “Then _I’m_ on top.”

Ben can’t find it in himself to argue, not when she’s taking his cock in her hand and positioning it just right before sinking down on to him _ever so slowly._ He’s honestly surprised that he doesn’t come right then - she’s so _wet_ and so _tight._ It was one thing to have her wrapped around his fingers, but having her around his cock is like having a religious experience.

“ _F uck - _ why are you so _big_?” She grinds out as she moves against him in an effort to get adjusted. Before he can say anything, she puts a finger against his mouth. “Shut up, I regret even saying it.”

Ben grins, his hands making their way from her waist to play with her nipples. She’s still glaring at him, but she lets out a sigh that betrays her annoyance at him. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“You’re such an ass,” she bites out, but she’s started working herself up and down his length. Ben’s nearly positive that she could call him any name right now and he wouldn’t care, not with how good her cunt feels wrapped around his cock. 

“Sure, sweetheart,” he groans, _finally_ thrusting into her tight, wet heat. 

Rey doesn’t say anything in response, but she does dig her nails into where her hands are resting on his chest, a small form of retaliation that only manages to spur Ben further. His hands grip her hips in a firm grip, sure to leave bruises, as he helps her move herself up and down his length.

The sound of the two of their bodies meeting is wet and _loud,_ sounding filthy to his ears as Rey practically bounces on his cock. She keeps moaning, letting out little _ah ah ah’s_ that pushes Ben to drive into her even harder and faster.

Briefly, his mind tries to remind him that they’re _in public_ and currently fucking ona couch that literally _everyone_ on the floor sits on, but well -

It’s a little too late for that.

“You feel so fucking good,” he mumbles, pushing himself up into a sitting position so he can mouth at her chest again. “God, your _cunt -_ “

“Ben, _Ben,”_ she sighs, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burrowing her face in the crook of his neck. He kneads her ass with his two hands, grinding himself up as deep as he can get and can feel her cunt flutter around him.

“Rey, tell me you're close,” he pants. He’s not sure how much longer he can last, not when she’s biting at the skin of his neck and circling her hips in a way that has him seeing stars. “ _Fuck -_ I want to feel you come on my cock, Rey, _please.”_

She doesn’t say anything, but she grabs his wrist to push his hand down between the two of them. Her desire is clear and his fingers quickly find her clit.

“So fucking perfect, you’re so _perfect,”_ he tells her, “Wish I could bury myself in this sweet cunt forever.”

“I’m so close, I -,” she starts, only to breakout into a near shout as she comes, her cunt tightening around his cock as she pulls him close to her. It doesn’t take much longer for Ben to follow her over the edge, thrusting a few more times before he comes, letting out a low groan as he spills inside her.

Ben can’t remember the last time he came so hard.

For a moment, they don’t say anything, the only sound in the room is their combined harsh breathing as they try to catch their breath. It takes a second for the high to come down, for both of them to seemingly realize exactly what they've done at the exact same time. Rey lifts herself off him as quickly and gently as she can, and Ben bites back a groan at the feeling of him slipping out of her. She stands awkwardly next to the couch for a moment before letting out a shaky breath.

“I guess we should, um, clean up and get dressed,” she whispers, still avoiding his eyes. Ben tries not to let it get to him, since expecting her to change her mind about how she feels about it just because she let him fuck her is a tall order. He merely nods in response.

His actions seem almost robotic, like he’s on auto-pilot, as he pulls on each article of clothing until he’s fully dressed. He does his best not to sneak looks at Rey while she’s doing the same, but it’s definitely hard, since he’s nearly positive he’s never going to get to see her naked ever again. He probably shouldn't feel as disappointed as he does, especially seeing as he finally had sex with the girl that's been occupying his thoughts since he first saw her in his dorm room two months ago. 

Then, suddenly, finding some sort of courage buried deep inside him, he clears his throat. Rey looks up from where she's trying to flatten out at particularly harsh wrinkle in her shirt to _finally_ meet his eyes.

“I don’t know if you have any plans or anything, but did you - and you can totally say no, if understand, don’t feel obligated or anything, it’s not like you _need_ to agree -“ He's not even entirely sure where he's going with this, too concerned with just getting it all out instead of focusing on the actual words that are spilling out of his mouth. Basically, he's a mess.

Rey scoffs. “Spit it out, Solo.”

He glances up at her, from where he’s trying to slip on his shoes. “I just - there’s a twenty-four hour diner nearby that serves really amazing waffles.”

“ _O-kay,”_ she draws out, giving him a confused look, not following where he’s going with this. To be fair, Ben doesn’t often find himself asking people out on dates. He’s out of practice.

“Do you maybe want to join me?” he asks, briefly making eye contact with her as he makes his way over to the snack table in an attempt to start cleaning up.

Rey just stares at him for a moment, blinking once and then twice. Ben’s pretty sure his heart is about to explode out of his chest for how hard it’s beating beneath his rib cage. “Like I said, you can say no, it’s not a big deal -“

“You want to get waffles...with me?” she interrupts, voice quiet in the awkwardness.

He shrugs. “I mean, that’s kind of why I asked.”

Instead of sassing him, like he expects, she keeps peering at him curiously. “Like a...date?”

“Only if that’s okay with you,” he admits, feeling his ears warm under her gaze. “I mean, ideally, I would have liked to take you out _before_ we did all - this.”

God, he sounds like an idiot.

To his surprise, Rey lets out a giggle in her hand until she’s full on laughing, smile wide and tears sparkling in her eyes. Ben’s confused, but her smile is contagious and it doesn’t take long for Ben to find himself grinning at her.

“We did this all out of order, didn’t we?” she manages to choke out between bouts of laughter.

“To be fair, until about thirty minutes ago, I thought you hated me.”

“Well, until thirty minutes ago, I was pretty sure I did, too,” she admits, but she’s still smiling at him in a way that has him blushing.

“You’re sure you didn’t have any plans?” he asks, though he’s pretty sure he knows the answer, if the fact that she’s hanging out with him close to midnight on a Saturday is an indication.

“I was just going to study for one of my engineering classes,” she replies, adjusting the cat ear headband on her hair to help tame the mess his fingers seemed to have made of her hair. “I have a test on Monday that I am _not_ excited for.”

He stops in the middle of gathering all the bags on chips into the empty grocery bags he brought them in. “Wait, you’re an engineering major?’

“Yes, why?” she asks, jovial attitude suddenly disappearing to be replaced by hesitation. “Have a problem?”

He immediately tries to back track. “No, not at all, I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“What? Do you think girls can’t be engineers?” Her crosses her arms over her chest, hip popped to one side as she glares at him.

“Again, no, not what I was trying to say.” How has he managed to fuck this up so entirely when he had her laughing not only two minutes ago? “It’s just - you’re so passionate in Ackbar’s class, I just assumed you were some sort of history major.”

“I can have interests outside my major, you know.”

“Yeah, I realize that now.” He drops the bags on the table in front of him and tries to give her his best apologetic look. “Have I already fucked up the one chance you’ve given me?”

“Well,” Rey starts, arms falling to her sides as she slowly saunters her way over to him. She looks up at him from under her lashes and she obviously knows the effect she’s having on him, if her glance down at his crotch is any indication. She stops mere inches from him. “You can buy me some waffles to make it up to me.”

He swallows. “I can do that.”

She smiles at him again, reaching up to brush some invisible piece of lint from his hair before she turns around to make her way to the other side of the room. “Now, come on, these decorations aren’t going to take down themselves.”

Ben shakes himself out of his stupor before resuming his previous task, shoving the bag of pretzels into the canvas tote. “I still can’t believe you decorated so much.”

She scoffs. “It’s _Halloween,_ you scrooge.”

“Pretty sure that’s Christmas.”

“Why are you always such an ass?” He can’t see her face from where she’s reaching up to remove the bats from the walls, but he knows she’s rolling her eyes.

“It’s only around you.”

Another scoff. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I guess you’re going to have to hang out with me a lot to find out,” he teases, feeling nervous. This sort of weird thing they have _now_ between them - camaraderie? Friendship? _Dating? -_ is still so damn fragile. “You know, really test that hypothesis.”

“Yeah,” she softly replies, glancing at him over her shoulder and shooting him a shy smile. “I guess I do.”

(Later, when Rey has eaten approximately seven waffles and attempts to steal the last bite from his plate, Ben will try to explain that he only looked at her weird that first day because he was overwhelmed by how hot she was.

Rey, in turn, will throw syrup at him and call him an idiot.

She makes out with later, pressed against his dorm room door, so it's a win-win, really.)

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


End file.
